1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compact zoom lenses. Although the invention has general application, it is particularly usable in still photographic cameras.
2. Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,867 to Lee R. Estelle, issued Dec. 14, 1993, describes zoom lenses (or zoom lens systems) having two units of lens components--a positive front unit and a negative rear unit. The disclosed zoom lenses utilize only three or four lens components and still achieve very good aberration correction for zoom ranges 1:2 and aperture ratios of f/8 to f/11.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,661 to E. I. Betensky et al., issued Jun. 26, 1990, describes a zoom lens with a short back focal length and having, from front to rear, negative, positive and negative optical units. The negative unit closest to the image is movable during zooming to provide a majority of the change in focal length. In some of the examples, the front two units move as a single optical group during zooming, and in others they move relative to each other during zooming. These lenses have remarkable corrections and compactness for their aperture, zoom range and simplicity. The short back focal length makes them particularly useful as zoom objectives in "viewfinder" (non-SLR) cameras.
Many lenses such as zoom lenses of the type described above utilize aspheric surfaces. These aspheric surfaces are generally sensitive to decentering and when decentered, usually introduce image plane tilt which is obviously undesirable. However, without these aspheric surfaces a lens system's performance will be compromised. Thus, there is a need for lenses, and particularly for zoom lenses, with reduced aspheric decenter sensitivity.